White House looking at ethics rule to weaken special investigation: sources

Source: Reuters

The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia, two people familiar with White House thinking said on Friday.

Trump has said that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's hiring of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation "hurts our country terribly."

Within hours of Mueller's appointment on Wednesday, the White House began reviewing the Code of Federal Regulations, which restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm’s clients for one year after their hiring, the sources said.

An executive order signed by Trump in January extended that period to two years.

36. Jared Kushner & Manafort are/were clients of Mueller's FIRM.

"The Justice Department is already reviewing Mueller's background as well as any potential conflicts of interest, said department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores.

Even if the Justice Department granted a waiver, the White House would consider using the ethics rule to create doubt about Mueller's ability to do his job fairly, the sources said. Administration legal advisers have been asked to determine if there is a basis for this.

Under this strategy, the sources said the administration would raise the issue in press conferences and public statements."

I wouldn't think this would work. But who knows? Times are crazy. I worked for law firms for decades. Big law firms represent at some time almost everyone who is anyone. It's not uncommon to leave a firm and work on cases against clients of prior firm, as long as the particular lawyer isn't the one who represented that client. But laypeople may not understand the situation.

4. Who was whose prior law firm's former client?

6. 'In addition to his speaking and teaching roles, Mueller also joined the law firm WilmerHale

as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office in 2014.[19] Among other roles while at the firm, he oversaw the independent investigation into the NFL's conduct surrounding the video that appeared to show NFL player Ray Rice assaulting his fiancée.[20] In January 2016, he was appointed as Settlement Master in the U.S. consumer litigation over the Volkswagen emissions scandal; as of May 11, 2017, the scandal has resulted in $11.2 billion in customer settlements.[21] On October 19, 2016, Mueller began an external review of "security, personnel, and management processes and practices" at government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton after an employee was indicted for massive data theft from the National Security Agency.[22] On April 6, 2017, he was appointed as Special Master for disbursement of $850 million and $125 million for automakers and consumers, respectively, affected by rupture-prone Takata airbags.[23]'

22. My guess it that Congressional Repugs would be silent (like most are now) -if they carried out these

...........If the department did not grant a waiver, Mueller would be barred from investigating Kushner or Manafort, and this could greatly diminish the scope of the probe, experts said.

The Justice Department is already reviewing Mueller's background as well as any potential conflicts of interest, said department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores.

Even if the Justice Department granted a waiver, the White House would consider using the ethics rule to create doubt about Mueller's ability to do his job fairly, the sources said. Administration legal advisers have been asked to determine if there is a basis for this.

Under this strategy, the sources said the administration would raise the issue in press conferences and public statements.

Moreover, the White House has not ruled out the possibility of using the rule to challenge Mueller’s findings in court, should the investigation lead to prosecution.

14. They really couldn't care less about the optics of what they do.

21. But look at their plan of what they would do--and they would have hate radio, fox, blaring it 24/7..

......If the department did not grant a waiver, Mueller would be barred from investigating Kushner or Manafort, and this could greatly diminish the scope of the probe, experts said.

The Justice Department is already reviewing Mueller's background as well as any potential conflicts of interest, said department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores.

Even if the Justice Department granted a waiver, the White House would consider using the ethics rule to create doubt about Mueller's ability to do his job fairly, the sources said. Administration legal advisers have been asked to determine if there is a basis for this.Under this strategy, the sources said the administration would raise the issue in press conferences and public statements.

Moreover, the White House has not ruled out the possibility of using the rule to challenge Mueller’s findings in court, should the investigation lead to prosecution.

25. yep...you just know this is how they're gonna play it...

16. I find it hard to believe this wasn't known before the appointment of Mueller.

This may force an up or down vote in Congress on Mueller's appointment. It would be hard for Repukes who praised him to say, "No, we are going to follow an obscure regulation that Drumpf modified with an Executive Order."

Could be three dimensional chess on either side of the board. Or just another Washington fuck up.

31. Which means we'll likely see another extending to 8 years.

37. RIGHT. That is what stood out to me. Of course, Trump wouldn't have known anything about

Mueller appointment in January. Why did Trump find it SO important in January when he had just got in to sign this executive order to extend the wait period. Gotta be something to that - I need to look that up and see

38. Weird - Reuters was saying that Trump extended from 1 year to 2, right...but...

What Are the Restrictions on Incoming Appointees?
1. Two-year ban on participating in any matter directly and substantially related to their former employers or clients

The Ethics Executive Order requires all incoming appointees to pledge that for two years from the date of their appointments, they will not participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to their former employers or clients, including regulations and contracts. This requirement applies to any incoming appointee, whether or not he or she was a lobbyist before entering service. This requirement and the relevant defined terms are unchanged from President Obama’s Executive Order on ethics.